Day 23, Luke 6
Yesterday we read Mark’s version of the “sabbath grain” incident, and the healing of the man with the withered hand. We also saw the calling of the apostles and the reactions of the religious elite, Jesus family, and the crowds.
Today, Luke picks up the account and leads on from the calling of the apostles to the primary teaching Jesus is recorded as giving (known as the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s gospel).
In Luke’s account, the sermon is on a level place below the hill where Jesus designated the Twelve. There is nothing in the text to suggest that this was at sea level, as some who look for contradictions say in citing this as evidence that the gospels are at odds, and not to be trusted. Rather, this could have been at a level place on the mountainside if this account and Matthew 5-8 are the same event.
Conversely, neither Luke or Matthew form their accounts in ways that would require these two sermons to be the same occasion. Luke is writing his carefully researched history focused on the non-Jewish reader, while Matthew is writing for Jews to reveal their King. His gospel is in preacher form, rather than historian. Both compilations are gathering the core teaching of Jesus into one place, and the differences are helpful, rather than contradictory. Luke has 4 beatitudes and 4 woes, all addressed in the second person to “you”. Matthew has 8 beatitudes all directed in the third person: “Blessed are those…”
Today we read the Gentile, historical version, tomorrow we turn to Matthew for the Jewish version.
As you read, allow the enormity of Jesus’ radical revelation of how God intends us to live. It’s as though the whole history of God’s dealings with humanity to date has been a tarpaulin-shrouded scaffold that Jesus now rips away to reveal a beautiful palace inside it. There are so many statements in the sermon that cut across both human sinfulness and religious self-righteousness. And in the revealing comes a choice: will you step into the kingdom mansion Jesus has revealed, or hide in the wreckage of human sinfulness and religious striving?
A great deal hangs on our response to the truths Jesus reveals.
Have a great day!
Mark.